Pipe mover

ABSTRACT

The pipe mover of this invention comprises a chassis and a carriage. The chassis includes a horizontally disposed I-beam, a pair of struts fastened downwardly, transversely, centrally on the I-beam, a pair of wheels fastened to the lowermost terminal ends of the struts, and a pair of balancing means disposed downwardly from each of the terminal ends of the I-beam. The carriage is operable to ride on the I-beam. The carriage includes a frame operable to ride rectilinearly on the uppermost terminal side of the I-beam, wheels disposed rectilinearly on each side of the I-beam and being operable to ride on the uppermost terminal side of the lower horizontal portion of the I-beam, a carriage plate fastened transversely on the carriage frame, and a pair of upstandingly disposed, U-shaped yokes fastened on the uppermost terminal side at each of the terminal ends of the carriage plate.

United stateS Patent [1 1 Young [111 3,756,426 [451 Sept. 4, 1973 PIPE MOVER [76] Inventor: Roger G. Young, P. O. Box 430,

Mountain Home, Idaho 83647 [22] Filed: Dec. 23, 1971 [2]] Appl. No.: 211,264

Primary Examiner-Gerald M. Forlenza Assistant Examiner-Frank E. Werner Attorney.lohn W. Kraft ABSTRACT The pipe mover of this invention comprises a chassis and a carriage. The chassis includes a horizontally disposed l-beam, a pair of struts fastened downwardly, transversely, centrally on the l-beam, a pair of wheels fastened to the lowermost terminal ends of the struts, and a pair of balancing means disposed downwardly from each of the terminal ends of the l-beam. The carriage is operable to ride on the l-beam. The carriage includes a frame operable to ride rectilinearly on the uppermost terminal side of the I-beam, wheels disposed rectilinearly on each side of the I-beam and being operable to ride on the uppermost tenninal side of the lower horizontal portion of the I-beam, a carriage plate fastened transversely on the carriage frame, and a pair of upstandingly disposed, U-shaped yokes fastened on the uppermost terminal side at each of the terminal ends of the carriage plate.

3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTED SEP 4 i975 SHEH 1 0F 3 ROGER G. YOUNG INVENTOR.

PATENTEUSEP H913 3.756.426

' sum 2 or 3 FIG.2

ROGER G. YOUNgB INVENTOR.

PATENTEDSEP 4191s 3,756,426

SHEEI 3 I]? 3 ROGER s. YOUNG mvsmoa BY MW PIPE MOVER FIELD OF INVENTION The present invention relates to materials handling apparatus and more particularly to apparatus operable to move elongated materials, such as pipes, rails, and the like.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART Means commonly used and employed to move elongated materials, such as pipes, rails, and the like, have commonly employed fixedly mounted booms or wheels mounted by various means on the material itself. Fixedly mounted booms require extensive foundation footings in their construction. Commonly, such fixedly mounted apparatus are unsatisfactory for a large number of uses, such as moving elongated materials in fields, at construction sites, and the like. Pipe moving apparatus employing wheels mounted directly on the material, such as dollies and the like, depend on stable, level, and regular terrain.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide materials handling apparatus operable to move elongated materials, such as pipes, rails, and the like, which is operable to freely move.

It is another object of this invention to provide materials handling apparatus which is operable to move over irregular terrain.

These and other objects become apparent from the description following, it being understood that modifications may be made without affecting the teachings of the invention here set out.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Generally, the pipe mover of this invention comprises a chassis and a carriage. The chassis includes a horizontally disposed l-beam, a pair of struts fastened downwardly, trasnversely, centrally on the I-beam, a pair of wheels fastened to the lowermost terminal ends of the struts, and a pair of balancing means disposed downwardly from each of the terminal ends of the l-beam. The carriage is operable to ride on the I-beam. The carriage includes a frame operable to ride rectilinearly on the uppermost terminal side of the I-beam, wheels disposed rectilinearly on each side of the l-beam and being operable to ride on the uppermost terminal side of the lower horizontal portion of the I-beam, a carriage plate fastened transversely on the carriage frame, and a pair of upstanding disposed, U-shaped yokes fastened on the uppermost terminal side at each of the terminal ends of the carriage plate.

A more thorough and comprehensive understanding may be had from the detailed description of the preferred embodiment when read in connection with the drawings forming a part of this specification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a perspective view of the pipe mover of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary elevational view of a typical end portion of this invention showing the balancing means and the carriage cut away toshow the interior configuration.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view of the carriage and main support beam of the FIG. 2, drawn to a larger scale.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to the FIG. 1, the pipe mover of this invention is shown to advantage and identified by the numeral 10. The mover 10 comprises a chassis assembly 11 and a carriage assembly 12. The chassis assembly 11 includes a main beam 13, a pair of struts M, wheels 15, and balancing means 16. The carriage assembly 12 is intended to be carried on the beam 13 which is a substantially l-beam-like structure. The beam 13 is supported by a centrally disposed pair of struts M. The struts M are fastened transversely to the lowermost terminal side of the beam 13 at a suitable downwardly inclined angle. The struts 14 are connected together at their lowermost terminal ends by means of ties 17. A pair of wheels 15 are provided at each of the lowermost terminal ends of the struts 14. The wheels 15 are carried on the struts 14 by means of selectively locking joints 18. It is intended that the wheels 15 be disposed in a direction parallel to the struts 14, such that the beam 13 moves in a transverse direction over the ground. In transferring the mover 10 from one location to another, it has been advantageous to tow the mover 10. To this end, the wheels 15 may be moved on the block 18 such that the wheels 15 are parallel to the beam 13. The balancing means 16 comprise a pair of balancing arms 16' disposed at each of the terminal ends of the beam 13. The balancing arms 16' may each include a downwardly projecting rod-like leg 19 and a runner 20. The length of the leg 19 is somewhat shorter than the dis tance from the lowermost terminal side of the beam 13 to the lowen'nost ground engaging side of the wheels 15. The runner 20 is operable to permit the balancing means 16 to move over the ground. The runner 20 may be a hemispheric member fastened to the lowermost terminal end of the leg 19 with the curved side of the member downwardly disposed. It has been found to advantage to fabricate the leg 19 as a L-shaped member in which a horizontally disposed perpendicular member 21 is disposed parallel to the rectilinear axis of the beam 13 and which is operable to provide handle means for the chassis assembly 11, as shown in the FIG. 3.

Referring now to the FIGS. 1 and 2, the carriage assembly 12 is operable to ride on the chassis 11 by sliding rectilinearly on the beam 13. The carriage assembly 12 includes a carriage frame 22, carriage wheels 23,

and a pipe cradle 24. Referring to the FIGS. 3 and 4,

operably ride on the uppermost terminal side of the lower horizontal portion of the beam 13. Referring again to the FIG. 3, the cradle 24 is fastened transversely and centrally to the uppermost side of the frame 22. The cradle 24 comprises a transversely horizontally disposed plate portion 28 fastened to the uppermost terminal side of the frame 22 and a pair of yoke members 29 fastened at each of the terminal ends on the up permost terminal side of the plate 28. Each of the yokes 29 is an upstandingly disposed substantially U-shaped member fastened at its base to the plate 28, as shown in the FIG. 1. It has been found to advantage to provide outwardly projecting return portions at the uppermost terminal ends of the yokes 29 to facilitate loading of a pipe 30. As shown by the FIG. 3, each of the terminal ends of the frame 22 is provided with a dependingly mounted wheel 31. The distance between the base of the wheel 31 and the frame 22, when the frame 22 is substantially parallel to the beam 13, is less than the distance between the frame 22 and the uppermost terminal side of the beam 13 at the wheels 23. In opera tion, when the location of the carriage assembly 12 is to be changed with respect to the chassis 11, the carriage frame 22 may be tipped in the direction of travel causing the pipe 30 to shift in the yokes 29 resulting in a tendency by the carriage assembly 12 to shift in that direction. It also has been found to advantage to include carriage stops 32 on the uppermost terminal side of each of the terminal ends of the beam 13. The carriage stops 32 are operable to retain the carriage assembly 12 on the chassis l l. The carriage stops 32 may include a substantially wedge-shaped member 32 inclined from the terminal end of the beam 13 downwardly toward the center of the beam 13. the angle of incline may be determined by the amount necessary to retain the carriage assembly 12 on the beam 13.

In operation, the chassis 11 can be towed to its location and prepared for use by locking the wheels 15 in a transverse direction with respect to the beam 13. The pipe mover 10 may be moved over the ground by a variety of means, such as self-propelled drive apparatus, towing, and the like. The carriage assembly 12 may be moved with respect to the beam 13 by lowering one of the terminal ends of the beam 13. Lowering one of the terminal ends of the beam 13 results in a lowering of the corresponding terminal end of the frame 22 with respect to the beam 13, and the carriage assembly 12 moves over the beam 13. It is to be understood that, while lengths of pipe 30 have been described, any of a variety of similarly configured items, such as rails, rods, and the like, may be satisfactorily moved by means of the pipe mover 10.

Having thus described in detail a preferred apparatus which embodies the concepts and principles of the invention and which accomplishes the various objects, purposes and aims thereof, it is to be appreciated and will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many physical changes could be made in the apparatus without alterning the inventive concepts and principles embodied therein. Hence, it is intended that the scope of the invention be limited only to the extent indicated in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A pipe mover, comprising:

a chassis including a horizontally disposed l-beam, a pair of struts fastened downwardly, transversely, centrally on said l-beam, a pair of wheels mounted at the lowermost terminal ends of said struts to support said chassis, balancing means disposed downwardly from each of the terminal ends of said beam; and carriage operable to ride on said l-beam, said carriage including a frame operable to ride rectilinearly on the uppermost terminal side of said I- beam, wheels disposed rectilinearly on each side of said l-beam, said carriage wheels being operable to ride on the uppermost terminal side of the lower horizontal portion of said I-beam, a carriage plate fastened transversely on said carriage frame, and a pair of upstanding disposed U-shaped yokes fastened on the uppermost terminal side at each of the terminal ends of said carriage plate.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said chassis wheels include articulating, selectively locking joint mounting means disposed at the lowermost tenninal ends of said struts, said mounting means being operable to selectively lock said wheels in a rectilinear or transverse direction with respect to said l-beam.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said balancing means includes a vertically disposed rod-like leg fastened to the lowermost terminal side of said l-beam and a hemispheric member fastened to the lowermost terminal end of said leg with the curved side of said member downwardly disposed.

i i II 

1. A pipe mover, comprising: a chassis including a horizontally disposed I-beam, a pair of struts fastened downwardly, transversely, centrally on said Ibeam, a pair of wheels mounted at the lowermost terminal ends of said struts to support said chassis, balancing means disposed downwardly from each of the terminal ends of said Ibeam; and a carriage operable to ride on said I-beam, said carriage including a frame operable to ride rectilinearly on the uppermost terminal side of said I-beam, wheels disposed rectilinearly on each side of said I-beam, said carriage wheels being operable to ride on the uppermost terminal side of the lower horizontal portion of said I-beam, a carriage plate fastened transversely on said carriage frame, and a pair of upstanding disposed U-shaped yokes fastened on the uppermost terminal side at each of the terminal ends of said carriage plate.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said chassis wheels include articulating, selectively locking joint mounting means disposed at the lowermost terminal ends of said struts, said mounting means being operable to selectively lock said wheels in a rectilinear or transverse direction with respect to said I-beam.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said balancing means includes a verticalLy disposed rod-like leg fastened to the lowermost terminal side of said I-beam and a hemispheric member fastened to the lowermost terminal end of said leg with the curved side of said member downwardly disposed. 